


it's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)

by astridianmayfly



Series: Waiting for the sun to shine [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, No Incest, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 08:49:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15263811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astridianmayfly/pseuds/astridianmayfly
Summary: This is sort of my take on Avengers 4. It follows canon (for now), but since it goes into a future that won't be how A4 plays out, I'm marking this as AU. I hope no one is OOC, and if they are, don't hesitate to tell me in the comments. Nothing belongs to me.edit: hey guys. Originally I planned to make a huge, multi-chaptered fic, but i actually have no time. I'm really sorry but i am really such a busy person and I can only really commit to one-shots. this was a bit ambitious for me personally and hopefully you understand. I do want to write some more loki and thor fics so this is now part of a series, so some good news at least.on another note, thank you everyone for your kudos and kind words, you are all so encouraging and nice tysm <3





	it's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)

**Author's Note:**

> This is sort of my take on Avengers 4. It follows canon (for now), but since it goes into a future that won't be how A4 plays out, I'm marking this as AU. I hope no one is OOC, and if they are, don't hesitate to tell me in the comments. Nothing belongs to me.
> 
> edit: hey guys. Originally I planned to make a huge, multi-chaptered fic, but i actually have no time. I'm really sorry but i am really such a busy person and I can only really commit to one-shots. this was a bit ambitious for me personally and hopefully you understand. I do want to write some more loki and thor fics so this is now part of a series, so some good news at least. 
> 
> on another note, thank you everyone for your kudos and kind words, you are all so encouraging and nice tysm <3

_ So this is how the world ends. _

 

Not with a bang.

 

Not with Ragnarok-

 

( _ not a place, but a people)- _

 

Not when Thanos arrived on the  _ Statesmen _ and slaughtered half of Thor’s people.  

 

Thor thought the world ended when he lost Loki. The minute Loki fell to the ground, lifeless, Thor, gagged and bound, discovered that, for the first time, he had fallen with him.

 

Had Surtur driven his sword between his ribs, in the place where Loki had stabbed him years earlier?

 

Had he been touched by a Jotun, skin blackening and blistering?

 

His lungs  _ had _ to be filled with smoke or snow.

 

There were no other explanations for his inability to scream. 

 

Thor looked around for signs of the apocalypse when the ship burned and exploded in a swarm of purple hellfire. 

 

Thor was flung into the boundless infinity of space. There, he saw:

 

All the stars,

 

All the nebulae,

 

All the galaxies,

 

And all the planets,

 

before unconsciousness showed him mercy.

 

His muddled, sleep-ridden thoughts determined that the universe remained intact. 

 

_ Impossible,  _ said the part of his brain that made the logical decisions. It sounded like Loki.

 

There was no such thing as a world so without meaning that also was home to so much opportunity.

 

It was a taunt of the cruelest breed, but it certainly made a point.

 

_ Life goes on. _

 

***

 

When Thor was almost destroyed by a star, the world did not end. The star’s might burned Thor’s skin with ribbons of heat that would melt a mortal on impact. 

 

The rabbit seemed surprised that he was alive.

 

Thor could never die when  _ he _ was still alive.

 

He would kill Thanos with glee. And Thor was going to watch the light fade from his eyes.

 

Just how it faded from Loki’s.

 

***

 

The world was supposed to end in fires of Muspell. The world could have ended with the ice of Jotunheim. The Norns had all told Thor this.

 

But:

 

_ I told you. You die for that. _

 

_ You should’ve gone for the head. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ snap _

 

***

“Hello, my son.”

 

Thor was back in Normandy, seated cross-legged in the grassy meadow. He could not outrun the grayscale landscape in his dreams. 

 

His visitor was Odin, blank-faced, modestly-dressed.

 

“Midgardians, the Norse who worshipped us a time ago, tended to forget what came after Ragnarok. It was not as interesting as the flames, drama, and war that was the story told of.”

 

Thor looked up at his father. He knew that he looked hopeless. “It is hard to fathom what comes after the end, for all of us. Not just mortals.”

 

Odin smiled, rather cheekily for a dead man. “But it was imagined, was it not? Legend tells of Lif and Lifthrasir who feast on the dew of the morning. They are the mother and father of a new universe. They rekindle life in all the Nine Realms.”

 

Thor scoffed. “I know not of a Lif nor a Lifthrasir.”

 

Odin took a seat next to his son. “Are you sure? Are you sure you did not encounter Life and her yearning at any time after Ragnarok? You did not see them and their hope when you were flung into space, when you almost died at the hands of a star?”

 

Thor looked down, slightly ashamed. “I tried to remain hopeful. I tried to avenge you-“ he paused. “All of you. And I still lost. So how can you tell me that this is not the end? How can you say that?”

 

Odin smiled. Thor thought that he was  _ far _ too cheery for conversing about the apocalypse.

 

“You did not let me finish. Just as in the legends, there are survivors. Survivors with the willpower to fight.” 

 

Odin looked at Thor and grinned again. “I am proud to call and your brother Odinsons.”

 

Thor stiffened, but Odin did not notice. 

 

Odin stood and walked to the edge of the cliff. Thor did not follow him there. 

 

Odin turned around to face Thor, a proud smile brightening his old and wise face. 

 

“So, my son, I must ask you. Is this ‘end’ really the end?”

 

***

 

“So this is how the world ends.”

 

Thor turned around to see a still-bearded Steve Rogerson walking outside to meet him on the balcony of the Wakandan palace. Steve stopped next to Thor and joined him at staring hardly out at the lush but burnt greenery that surrounded the city. He was still wearing his blackened suit that Thor had seen him wearing during the battle.

 

His eyes were swollen. He did not smile. Thor blames himself.

 

 

_ What did you DO?!?! _

 

Just then, the clouds broke open, to reveal the sun, daring to offer comfort to the two mourners.

 

“It’s the end of the line, Thor.” Steve looked at him.

 

Thor was still staring out at the battlefield. Taking in the grass that shivered with the blowing of the wind. Listening to the hush of what might’ve been a majestic waterfall in the distance. 

 

Thor felt the sun, Loki’s sun, shining on his face, warming his skin. 

 

He turned to look Steve in the eyes.

 

“Is it?” 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> this writing style is so odd for me usually i write like oscar wilde with sentences that have wayyyy too many commas and words but i like how it works with this fic and topic


End file.
